As you may know, ESPN the Magazine’s next issue is the “Body Issue.” The premise is that they have different athletes nude and semi-nude photoshoots. I’d guess that the goal is to “appreciate the human body” but they’ve chosen some wacky models. The most random seem to come from baseball where ESPN has chosen Joba Chamberlain and Nelson Cruz. Both are quite burly fellows and calling them “easy on the eyes” would be quite a compliment. The picture above is a painting of Joba from some random artist… and I hope his ESPN shoot can live up to that high standard. Nipple ring included.
Another strange addition to the issue is a spread with hockey player Zdeno Chara. Chara is the tallest player in the NHL at 6′9″ and he’s also extremely weird looking. They’ve also chosen Bill Guerin from the NHL. The last time we saw him, he was rocking one of the best hobo beards in sports history. In terms of women, it’s all people you’ve never heard of plus Gina Carano and Serena Williams. Word is that Tiger Woods turned ESPN down. Here’s the list of athletes in the feature as reported by Michael McCarthy from USA Today:
Tags: Adrian peterson, alexis solis, bill guerin, body issue, carl edwards, christina kim, claire bevilacqua, dwight howard, espn, espn the magazine, gina carano, james blake, Joba Chamberlain, laird hamilton, manny pacquiao, mark martin, nelson cruz, oguchi onyewu, randy couture, serena williams, zdeno charaNFL: Adrian Peterson
MLB: Joba Chamberlain, Nelson Cruz
Tennis: Serena Williams, James Blake
NBA: Superman, aka Dwight Howard
NHL: Zdeno Chara, Bill Guerin
NASCAR: Carl Edwards, and someone for the over-50 crowd, Mark Martin.
LPGA: Christina Kim
MMA: Gina Carano, Randy Couture
Horse racing: Alexis Solis
Soccer: Oguchi Onyewu
Surfing: Claire Bevilacqua (Photo by James Dimmock/ESPN The Magazine), Laird Hamilton
Boxing: Manny Pacquiao
Softball: Jessica Mendoza
